Hull KR have confirmed the signing of Joel Tomkins from Wigan Warriors in a statement on the club's website.

The back rower could make his debut for the Robins this Sunday when they face Castleford Tigers, with the deal for the 31-year-old until the end of next season.

The versatile forward who can also play at centre was suspended by Wigan Warriors earlier this month following the release of a video where he was filmed abusing bar staff.

That brought a swift response from the Warriors, who suspended Tomkins for four weeks and handed him a £10,000 fine. Tomkins’ actions led to the end of his association with a club in which he made his debut for back in 2005 and that put Rovers on alert.

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Having spoken to Tomkins and been reassured by the player and other sources that the incident was out of character, coach Tim Sheens has added the back rower to his ranks on an 18-month contract, with the Rovers board of directors opting to support the decision of the club’s head coach. Tomkins has commented on the move in KR's statement, with the player even revealing he resigned from Wigan.

"I'm sure everybody is aware of what’s gone on at Wigan and I accepted the punishment from them," Tomkins explained. "After sitting down with my family and thinking a bit harder about it, I decided that the best thing for all parties would be for me to leave the club and I offered my resignation to Kris Radlinski, which he accepted.

Wigan's Joel Tomkins escapes the clutches of Hull FC's Sika Manu.

“I instructed my agent to look into a deal elsewhere and there were a few other Super League clubs that were interested as well as Rovers, but Tim called me personally and really sold the club to me, both for the back end of this year and next season. After a 10-minute conversation with him, my mind was made up.

“I’m really grateful to Tim and everybody else involved at Hull KR for giving me the opportunity to move on from this. It has been embarrassing for me, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s a sad situation for me to leave Wigan in this way, but it’s also an opportunity for me to move to a club that’s on the rise and that has some big plans moving forward. I’m genuinely excited to be a part of that.”